Rod weeder device



v United States Patent 113,542,134

[72] Inventor Arden A. Wlgness 3,033,294 5/1962 Edwards 172/44 Fortune, North Dakaota 5884 3,186,494 6/1965 Jackson 172/44 [21 1 P 96 1 Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey [221 Med 1 1 9 8 Assistant Examiner-Ronald C. Harrington [45] Patented l 70 Attorney-Robert E. Kleve [s4] glllgs ABSTRACT: The invention comprises a rod weeder and a farm implement. The rod weeder has a plurality of rods placed [52] US. Cl. 112/195, in and (0 end relation across the back f h implement o 1 "2/44 loop elongated laterally of the length of the rods is fixed to one ll. m u u of the confronting ends of one of the rods and another 0] I w I72/ elongated parallel to the length of the rods is fixed to the con- 1 197, 44, 1 3 72 fronting end of an adjacent rod and interlooped with the first l loop. At least three link chains in spaced relation to one [56] References cited another connect the rods to the implement. At least one of the UNITED STATES PATENTS chains is connected to the rods by being connected to one of 1,721,253 9/l929-Severanee said loops.

. Q Patented Nov,24,1197()" I H I 3,542,134

Sheet L qt 2 INVENTOR Arden A. Wigness ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 24; 1970 3,542,134

INVENTOR Arden A. Wigness FIG.II.Y

ATTORNEY ,rotating rod weeder.

. 'RODWEEDER DEVICE This invention-relates to'rod weeders more particularly, the inventionrelates to rod weeders forfield cultivator's.

It is an'object-of the inventiomto provide a novel rod weeder which can be detachably fastened behind afield'cultivator and employed to remove weeds and level and pack ground and which can bereadily folded andtransp'or'ted and stored.

It is a furtherjobject of theinvention'toprovide a-novel, sim plified, easily, foldable, rod weeder attachment.-

It is anotherobject of the invention to provide-a-novel simplified .rod weeder attachment which can be quickly detached from. a cultivatorjand folded into a compact form-for storage. 1

It is another object of theinvention-to provide anovelnon- Further' objects and advantages of the invention will tachmentl'in'vention. i

FIG. 2.is a to'p'plan view of the rodjweederinventionij FIG, 3 is an enlarged fragmentaryfv-iew of thero'dand'chain connection of the r'od weeder invention whieh;e nables easyr folding of the rods together when notin use.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view: of the'rod weeder ab tachment taken along line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. Sis anenlar'ged sideviewjof the attachment of th'erod chain to thecultivatorshank. v 7

FIG. 6 is a. cross-sectional view taken along line 6 6 of FIG. 4

' FIG. 7 is top plan view. of a'modified form-of the rod weeder attachment;

FIG. 8*is an enlarged fragmentary. side vie w, of a;modified attachment of the. rod chain to rodweederof the modified in- FIG. l-I .isani enlarged-"fragmentary" SIdE VICW'. of, the

vention.

modifledattaehment-of the rodchainto the rodlweeder of the modified invention,

Briefly stated, the invention comprises a rod weeder having a pluralityof nonrotatable rodsplaced in-end to end relation across the back ofra. field cultivator; said-rods h'avirrg a laterally elongated loopat one endand a longitudinally'extending rod at'their otherends in; interconnectingxrelation wherebyv saidrodsmay be-folded to'gethen-for storage, a plurality offchains connected; at one oftheir ends'to the laterally The upper ends 29", 30", 31", 32", and 33'.'-of the link chains each have a U-shaped rod 36'with'the uppermost link of each of the chains 29-43 being looped through the U-rod 36 The legs 37 and 37' of the U-rods 36 form loops and encircle'the bolts 37 on opposite sides of the lateral flange portion 38f of each of the L-shaped flanges 38. The lateral flange portion 38' has a bore to allow the bolt 37 to pass through with nuts 39 threaded onto opposite ends of the bolt 37 to lock the U-rod 36 to the flange portion '38 of the L-shaped flange 38 to thereby secure the upper ends of chains 29-33 to the cultivator shanks tivator shanks 39 by bolts 40. Cultivator shovels or sweeps 41 v are bolted to the front of the lower ends of the shanks 39.

In the modified form of the rod weeder invention illustrated inFl GS. 7 41, inclusive, the rods 22, 23, 24, and 25 (FIGS. 7; 10,-and 11) and their laterally elongated loops 26, 26, and 26" are the same as illustrated in FIGS. 1- 6,- inclusive. The horizontally elongated loops 42; 42, and 42" are similar to the 'horizontallyeIong'ated loops 27, 27', and 27" and are'interlooped with loops 26; 26', and26'-', respectively, except thatloops 42, 42", and 42" areseparable. The loops 42, 42', and 42" each are'formed' of two separate loop rod portions 44 and 44'. The loop rod portion44' has an eyelet 45 mounted to its outer end with the outer end of the loop or loop rod portion 44 passing through the'eyel'et45; The loop portion 44' may be bent out and upward in a counterclockwise direction, when viewedfr'om FIG. 11, about the axis of the inner end 46 of the loopportion 44'. The inner. end 46 of each loop portion 44 being fixed or welded to the respective adjacent weeder rod 23, 24, or'25.' The loopportions 44 by being bent outward removes the eyelets 45ifrom the loop portions 44 thereby separating loop portions 44 and 44' from one another of each loop 42,42, and 42" wherebythe lateral loops 26, 26, and 26" may be removed from the loops 42, 42, and 42 thereby separating the weeder rods-22, 23, and 24 and 25 from one another. p

' The separable-.loop-42 may'be employed'only for rods 22 and 23, while there'gula'r loo'ps 27 and 27 may be-employed for connecting .the ro'ds23', 24, and 24 together so that a longer rod 22" maybe substituted having a longer leftend 22"; or additional rod sections may be added for wider culelongated loops of the rodsl'anddetachably' connec ted-attheir other ends to therear'of'the;cultivator shanks: p 7 7 Referring more particularly to the d rawin'gsflnFIG; 1, the rod weeder invention 20=is1shown attached to :th'e rear of a field cultivator 21. The rod weeder invention has a-plurality of;-

cylindrical weederirods' 22 23, '24, and25, whic-hare-connected together lby laterally-elongated loops-26 ,26, and 26 and horizontally elongatedloops27,"27";=and.27". The loops 26-26" being looped to'loops 27 -27" respectivelyi-Th'e 1 ends 22, 23', and 24.--of rods 22', and 24, and lthejhoriz'o'n-- I ends 23", 24V, and 25" offtherods23, 24,-and 25.

The loops 26,26, and26 are laterally elongated so-tha-t the rods'22, 23, 24: and 25 may be folded togetherin a zigzag fashion with the laterally] elongated portions .28 and =28" enabling the loops 27,27, and 27 to swing'out andpivof' about to place rods'2 2,-23, '24, and 25 in parallel adjacent relation to one another,foreasier storage,-portabilityand compactness Three link-chains-29 3Ql=and 3ihave theirlowermostlinks attached to the lateral loops 26, 26, and 26" respectively, while chains 32 and "33have theirlowertnost links532'iand 33 tivator frames to extend'the overall length of the weeder rods as assembled. I

I After 'the loop"portions44 and 44' have been opened and longer or'different rod sections have been substituted, the loop portion'44 willbe bent back toits position'illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11 with the eyelet passes over the outer end of the loopportion 44 as shown in FIGS. 7, l0, and 11.

Theloo'pp'ortions 44and 44' will be'made of iron or other material which may be bentin the foregoing manner without fracturing; y

In the modified form-of the invention, illustrated in FIGS. 7- --1l, th'e upper ends of the chains 29-33 are mounted to the rear 'of the'cultivator shank39 by quickly detachable hook devices 46. 3

The hook device's 46'each have a pair of rods 47 and 47' whichare'straight-and elongated and in parallel relation to one another and are welded intermediate their length to the remote ends 48. and 48' of a'U-shaped rod 49, The U-shaped rods49 each'have a lateral'bend in their legs adjacent their ou'terends 50 and 50' so that the ap'exSl of the U -rod 49 may rest on one'side of the flange 52' while the ends of the legs 50 and 50 may pass through the square hole 53 in the flange 52 to connect with the rods 47 and 47 To remove the hook device 46 from the flanges 52' of the L- shaped flanges'52, the hooks are slid upward when viewed from FIG. 8 untilthelower end 53 ofthe rods 47 and 47' are adjacent the lower edge 54 of the square hole in the flange 52, whereupon the hook device will be pivoted clockwise when view'edfrom FIG. 8 about the axis of the lower end 53 of the rods-47 and 47 until the hook device'is approximately from its former position whereupon'the hook device is free to be slid from right to left, when viewed from FIG. 8, and out of the rectangular opening 53 in the flange 52' of the L-shaped flange.

The upper ends of each of the chains 29-33 are hooked to the respective U-rod of each respective cultivator shank 39, and the L-shaped flanges 52 are bolted to the back of the cultivator shanks while the cultivatorshovels or sweeps 4l are bolted to the front of the shank.

Thus, the hook devices 46 are quickly detachable from the shank 39, thereby enabling the rod weeder device to be quickly detached from the cultivator.

Thus, it will be seen that a novel rod weeder has been provided which can be inexpensively made and easily detached and collapsed together for storage and transportation.

The rod weeder rods 22, 23, 24, and 25 are nonrotatable as it has been found by testing that the rods as mounted and employed in this invention will pull weeds and level land quite satisfactorily without rotating the rods during the operation.

It will be obvious that various changes and departures may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited to that specifically describedin the specification or as illustrated in the drawings but only as set forth in confronting end of the adjacent one of said rods and interlooped with said first mentioned loop, at least three elongated linkage means connected at their one ends to said rods and extending laterally away from said rods in spaced relation to one another with their other ends attached to said farm implement.

2. A device according .to claim 1 wherein at least one of said linkage means is connected at its said one end to one of the loopsof said rods.

3. A device according'to claim 1 wherein said elongated loops are elongated sufficiently that said rods may be folded into parallel adjacent relation to one another when not in use. I 

